Stars
There are a wide variety of stars in the galaxy which are classified by types and subtypes. A star system can have more than one star, some of which may not be used to refuel with a Fuel Scoop. A star is a giant ball with extremely hot gas (plasma). It's caused by nuclear fusion which turns hydrogen into helium. All this energy produces heat, light and bigger chemical elements. A star emits electromagnetic radiation that moves away from the star as light. The large mass of a star holds it together. Old stars change helium into other elements like carbon and oxygen. The Largest Stars page has a list of famous stars in the Milky Way. Stellar Classification Each star or dwarf in Elite: Dangerous has an identifier for its classification which conforms to the Morgan–Keenan (MK) classification system. For example, the Sun of Sol has the classification identifier: G2 V Each identifier consists of three components: #Spectral class: A capital letter out of the sequence: O, B, A, F, G, K, M. (A helpful real-world mnemonic for remembering this is, "Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me.") This mainly specifies the temperature ranging from O'' (hottest) to ''M (coolest). Other letters specify extensions to this classification system, namely: W, L, T, Y, C, S,'' D.'' A few of those classes have subclasses such as'' DA, 'DB 'and 'DC 'as subclasses of' D.' #Spectral subclass: Each letter class is then subdivided using a numeric digit with '0''' being the hottest and 9'' being the coolest. #Luminosity class: A luminosity class is added to the spectral class using Roman numerals.This classifies the stars by its spectral characteristics considering color and brightness. Those spectral characteristics provide information about the type of the star: *''I for supergiants **''Ia'' or 0'' for hypergiants or extremely luminous supergiants **''Iab for normal supergiants **''Ib'' for less luminous supergiants *''II'' for bright giants *''III for regular ''giants *''IV'' for sub-giants *''V'' for main-sequence stars (''most of the known stars belong to this class) **Va'' for extremely luminous main sequence stars **''Vab'' for luminous main sequence stars **''Vb'' for normal main sequence stars **''Vz'' for less luminous main sequence stars *''VI'' for sub-dwarfs *''VII'' for white dwarf Thus, G2 V means: The Sun is semi hot (G), it belongs to the hotter stMars (2) in class G and it is considered as a so called main-sequence star (V). Star Types Main Sequence Stars Variants Proto Stars Carbon Stars Variants Wolf-Rayet Stars Black Holes Variants Neutron Stars Others White Dwarves Since there are many different subtypes of white dwarves they get a separate section.http://www.handprint.com/ASTRO/specclass.html D: Degenerate (white dwarf) bodies White dwarfs are the collapsed core of a star that has lost a large proportion (~20%) of its original mass as the ejected material of a planetary nebula or in a supernova explosion, the terminal stages of stellar evolution. White dwarfs are not stars because they no longer sustain nuclear fusion, and lacking this interior thermal source of support the star has gravitationally collapsed to a very small radius. White dwarfs glow with the residual heat of the degenerate core, which can have a temperature well above 100,000 K at collapse and that cools over several billion years. Class D is further divided into spectral types that indicate the elemental composition of the photosphere. * DA: strong Balmer series hydrogen absorption lines only; no helium or metals present. * DB: strong He I (neutral helium) absorption lines only; no hydrogen or metals present. * DC: a continuous (blackbody) spectrum with no absorption lines deeper than 5% in any part of the electromagnetic spectrum. * DO: strong lines of He II (ionized helium) with molecular hydrogen or helium present. * DQ: carbon absorption lines, either atomic or molecular, in any part of the electromagnetic spectrum. * DZ: metal (elements heavier than helium) absorption lines in the absence of both hydrogen and helium lines. Symbols Appended to the Above Designations * P: magnetic white dwarfs with detectable polarization. * H: magnetic white dwarfs without polarization. * X: peculiar or unclassifiable spectrum. * E: emission lines (of any element) present. * ?, :: uncertain classification. * V: variable luminosity. * d: circumstellar dust. * C I, C II, O I, O II added within parentheses to indicate the presence of these elements in DQ objects. The current practice is to append numerical indicators of the white dwarf temperature and surface gravity, separated by an underline "_". Temperature is indicated as the effective surface temperature divided into 50400 and rounded to the first decimal place, e.g. DA.9 = 56000 K and DB1.2 = 42000 K. Gravity is assessed as the width of the dominant spectral lines and the log values range from 7 to 9. The table below shows the white dwarves subtypes within the Elite Dangerous game. These do not necessarily match the notation mentioned above (for example, ED uses DAZ which probably should be DZ) but comes very close. The "Rarity" column indicates the subtype rarity within the White Dwarves spectrum. Other Stellar Objects Pulsars In-game description unknown. * Fuel scoop-able: No * Legendary Note: As of Beta 2.2, pulsars and millisecond pulsars are confirmed to be in the game; they do not, however, have unique descriptions. Crab Pulsar, one of known pulsars in our galaxy, is described in the game as a neutron star which is technically correct as pulsars are a special kind of neutron stars with fast spin. Videos File:Elite_Dangerous_and_it%27s_largest_stars_-_Size_comparisons File:Elite_dangerous_4._Suns References Category:Celestials Category:Guides Category:Stars